Milling your own bed wood
 

Has anyone here milled their own wood for the wood planks? How did you do it, and what were the dimensions? I really can't afford the $450 right now for pre-milled wood. I do have a router and a table saw, though. the wood at Home Depot would only be about $250.

Is it worth the trouble?

Thanks!! :)

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

i did one for a friend a few years ago with red oak wood was just under $50 at a local saw mill and that was with oneextra 8' board your old boards are all you need for patterns.one of the venders i think it's gmc paul has the demensions on thier web site if you have already disposed of your old ones. it's pretty easy

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

If you have access to a planer to make a nice smooth surface on the face of the boards that would be better. Although if you sand it down nice and smooth it would probably look real nice.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

Go here for your info http://www.gmcpauls.com/47-72_BedWood_Info.htm

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

One of these days I am going to do mine but I am not going to use solid wood.
I am going to use a waterproof plywood and cover it with a Paint they use on Boats.

The nice thing is that I work in a carpenter shop and get to use the machines.

I don´t know the dimensions but if you wait a couple of days I can measure them. I am going to have to measure them one of these days anyways.

I am going to order the thickness I need in one big piece and cut and sand it myself.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

Damn you guys are fast.

Thanks for the link RustyParts, now I don´t have to measure them myself.
I will check them though, I work with the metric system over here.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

If you have a dado set it is real easy.Then seek out a local Cabinet shop to run those through the overhead sander.Smaller shops are more likely to help you out.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

A site called ChevyParts has a pre-cut and grooved oak kit for the short fleet beds for only $225 plus shipping...not sure of the quality.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

Shipping to Germany would probably double that.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

Thanks Rusty. That's exactly what I was looking for. Lots of good tips there too. The best part is the help from this site. Thanks man. :c2:

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

I made my own bed wood. I used poplar and it turned out nice. Make sure that the boards turn out VERY square with no bow in them. The strips won't fit right if you don't. The hardest part was cutting the grooves in the edges for the bed strips to sit down into. I did it with a table saw and some of the grooves did not turn out wide enough. Make the grooves about twice as wide as you think they need to be. Also be sure to sand the boards down real smooth. If you leave the side thats up just a little rough it will show up in your finish. Also seal both sides of the boards. I used 3 coats of spar polyurethane on top and two on bottom. Measure your truck. I found mine not exactly the same length as what the spec said. It was close but not exact. Good luck with the project.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

I milled a set for a friend out of some 80 years old mill wood we picked up for free. It turned out great, for being twice as old as the truck.

A good wide planner and a nice dado blade for a table saw is about all is required.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

Your right about that. That´s why I´m going to make them myself.

I just ordered parts from LMC for $200 and they wanted $244 to send it over here. I found another way to get it over here for $55. After it gets here I will most likely have to pay 6% customs to the Germans on top of that.

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

So did you guys purchase new strips? During the removal I had no choice but to grind and chisel out some very stubborn bolts, and in doing so kind of elongated a couple of the holes.

Plus all my bed strip holes were round, not square like I thought they'd be. Do I have to order special shanked bolts, or would you just order the new strips? And if so, who likes the polished strips vs. painted better?

Re: Milling your own bed wood
 

I like both the polished and painted just depends on the truck if it is going to be a work truck go with the painted that way you can fix them at any time.